2008/05/13 by Laurent Ponson, Ponson, Laurent
Earth and Planetary Sciences · Engineering · Physics and Astronomy · #FOS: Physical sciences #Rock Mechanics and Modeling #Seismic Imaging and Inversion Techniques #Statistical Mechanics (cond-mat.stat-mech) #Theoretical and Computational Physics
paper · doi:10.48550/arxiv.0805.1802
openalex publication_date 2008/05/13 · openalex created_date 2025/10/10 · openalex updated_date 2026/07/28
The dynamics of a crack propagating in an elastic inhomogeneous material is investigated. The variations of the average crack velocity with the external loading are measured for a brittle rock and are shown to display two distinct regimes: Below a given threshold Gc, the crack velocity is well described by an exponential law v ~ exp-(C/(G-(Gamma)) characteristic of subcritical propagation, while for larger values of the driving force G > Gc, the velocity evolves as a power law v ~ (G - Gc)theta with theta = 0.80 ± 0.15. These results can be explained extending the continuum theory of Fracture Mechanics to disordered systems. In this description, the motion of a crack is analogue to the one of an elastic line driven in a random medium and critical failure occurs when the loading is sufficiently large to depinne the crack front from the heterogeneities of the material.